31. Happy Ned: Elizabeth Taylor at sea

In honour of International Women’s Day, Violet tells the story of Elizabeth Taylor (also known as Happy Ned) who spent most of her life dressing and working as a man. Having spent many years as a common labourer, she set sail in 1862 to the southern states during the American Civil War. After spending several years as a blockade runner, she returned home to face more conflict due to her masculine attire.

 

Also this week, Jim finds propaganda prison poetry and an argument over whether or not tadpoles in your drinking water is a good thing.

 

Sources:

http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/ 

https://www.newspapers.com/

https://www.bl.uk/ 

 

Yesterday’s Chip Paper is a fortnightly(ish) history podcast that delves into the bizarre world of historic newspapers. From Mad sea captains to fraudsters to quite literally starving artists, the stories are always bonkers. And what’s more, they’re very rarely to be found on Wikipedia or any other online sources.

 

Your hosts, Jim and Violet, are two amateur researchers based in New York and London. You can find them on Facebook and Twitter @paperpodcast or by emailing [e-mail]